


Soldier

by MarshWolffe



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Character Death, Drama, Drug Use, F/M, Romance, Sexual Content, Violence, will add more tags as story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 17:03:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17047136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshWolffe/pseuds/MarshWolffe
Summary: Miraculously managing to get leave to go see her nephew, Addison arrives at her brother's home in Sanctuary just as the world comes to an end. With Nora gone and Shaun kidnapped, Addison will have to search the commonwealth for him enduring heartache and loss along the way. 2 pairings a little bit of OCxHancock ending in OCxDanse.





	1. Leave

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Thank you for choosing my story! I really hope you like it. Just a side note or two; this story is based off of my current play through (obviously some things have been changed to fit into this story like i.e. This is not about a single SS.) There will be cursing, drug/alcohol abuse, sexual content and obviously violence. So IF you don't like that kind of thing then I am sorry to say that you will not like this story. Also if anyone finds misspelled words or any grammar I messed up or missed please PM me! That way I can fix it and it will read more smoothly, there's only so much my own eyes and brain can see lol.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Fallout series the only thing I own is the OC I created for this fic.
> 
> Enjoy!

Traffic was terrible on the Mass Pike, of course this was nothing new. People weaved in and out and around each other at speeds that, if a police officer had been anywhere in sight, would have earned them a ticket or jail time in some cases. Addison's truck turned off the exit that would bring her through Concord and up to Sanctuary, where her older brother Nate and her sister-in-law lived with their new baby boy. Addison smiled and pushed her aviator sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. Wind from the open window whipped her raven colored hair around her heart shaped face. She still didn't know how she'd managed to get leave at a time like this. Washington was a bundle of nerves, and with the threat of nuclear apocalypse, no one could blame them. It felt like everyone was holding their breath while they smiled through gritted teeth pretending that nothing was wrong.

Pulling into the driveway of Nate and Nora's home, she parked behind the shiny new black car under the car port. Addison rolled her blue-green eyes and laughed to herself a little.  _'This has my sister-in-law written all over it.'_  Nate had said in his letters that Nora had been trying to get rid of his truck as of late. "Looks like Nora strikes again." It wasn't that Addison and Nora didn't get along, that wasn't it at all. They liked each other very much, but sometimes her sister-in-law could be a bit much. She could be pushy when it came to her opinion and if yours and hers didn't match up she let you know she didn't agree. Sometimes it wasn't always in the...nicest way, and it had caused more than a few arguments between the two.

Grabbing her duffle from the bed of the truck, Addison slung it over her shoulder and walked up to the front door giving a hard knock. The door swung inward revealing her brother in his standard white tee and khakis. A huge grin spread rapidly across his face and he rushed his baby sister, gathering her into a big bear hug. Nate laughed and squeezed. "Addy! I'm so happy you're finally here!"

Addison laughed, her sunglasses toppling off her face as Nate spun her around in a circle. "It's good to see you too big brother, but I can't breathe...the U.S. Government will not be happy with you if you squeeze one of the Marine's sergeants to death." Nate set his sister down still grinning like a child and ruffled Addison's hair causing the high ponytail to fall slightly.

"Oh, is that why you haven't been home to even visit for the past three years?" Nate said sarcastically, moving aside and grabbing the duffle and sunglasses that had been dropped at their feet in all the excitement and ushered Addison into the house.

"No, I've been out east on vacation," Addison rolled her eyes, voice dripping with sarcasm, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Ah, Miss Addison! I am glad to see you well." Codsworth, the Mr. Handy bot that Nate and Nora had gotten to help around the house, greeted her carrying a few plates to the sink.

"Good to see you too, Codsworth."

"Is that my favorite sister?" Nora hollered from the hallway. Coming into view, Nora's face also adorned a grin. Addison gave the older woman a one-armed hug as not to squash the tiny boy swaddled in a white and blue blanket in Nora's arms.

"Hey, Nora. This must be the newest addition to the family. Hey, little man." Shaun giggled a cooed up at his aunt. "I'm your Auntie Addy, it's nice to finally meet you Shaun."

* * *

 

Sun streamed in through the windows of the living room, assaulting Addison's face and nearly blinding her as she awoke. "Ah shit." A chuckle sounded from the kitchen island less than ten feet from the couch where she'd been crashing. Flipping onto her face to hide from the bright light she held her middle finger up at her brother, which only caused him to laugh more.

"Morning, Sunshine."

"Fuck you, Nate." Addison grumbled. Sitting up and running a hand through her messy waist length hair, the smell of coffee wafted to her nose rousing her.

"You'd think after having to get up before the ass crack of dawn nearly every day in the Marines, you'd have turned into a morning person. Or at least a semi-pleasant one." Nate quipped as Codsworth set down his sister's coffee in front of her as she sat at the small island bar. Addison hummed in appreciation as the bitter liquid coated her tongue and slid down her throat. She glared at Nate over her mug as Nora walked out of the bathroom.

"You ready for tonight, hun?" Nora asked her husband. Nate heaved a heavy sigh looking slightly nervous.

"Tonight?" Addison asked looking between her siblings.

"The speech at the Veteran's Hall is tonight. I was asked to speak at it. I thought I told you?"

"Oh! Right, yes I remember now. Don't worry Nate you'll do fine." Standing from her bar stool Addison patted her brother on the shoulder and headed towards the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

The hot water had felt amazing on Addison's skin. She had taken her time in the shower. Being overseas didn't really afford for much in the way of actual showers that you could just stand in for more than fifteen minutes tops before someone was yelling at you to get out and back on duty. Stepping out of the shower, Addison threw on her black cargo pants, heather gray ribbed tank top and her combat boots. Glancing in the mirror really quick she grabbed a hair tie and through her long black tresses into a messy bun atop her head.

Hearing Nate and Nora in Shaun's room she made her way back to the couch, plopping down to watch the TV. The program that had been playing cut to the Boston news anchor reading out an urgent message. Addison jumped to her feet and jogged quickly down the hallway. "Nate, Nora! You need to get out here. Something is going down."

A confused look spread across the married couples faces. Nora bent into the blue crib and grabbed Shaun quickly following her husband to the living room. "What is he saying?"

"There are, yes, confirmed reports of nuclear detonation in New York and Pennsylvania...My god..." The report went out and the three shared a panicked look.

"We need to get to the vault, now. You too Addison, let's go!" Nate grabbed his sister's arm and dragged her through the door at break neck speed, Nora hot on their heels with the baby.

"What? Don't you need to be signed up to get into one of the vaults?"

"A rep came by when you were in the shower, we signed you up just in case. You're fine Addy, now go!" Addison nodded and followed. At the top of the hill, a crowd had gathered. Soldiers had barred the way to anyone who was not on the ever important list. Some guys in power armor holding mini guns stood just beyond the chain link fence to deter anyone from trying to run through the line of soldiers in panic.

"What do you mean I'm not on the list? I AM Vault-Tec!" The Vault-Tec rep from earlier was being turned away as the four approached. He ran past them as Nate gave the soldier with the list their names.

"Go ahead." He moved aside and let them past.

"What's going to happen to all those people at the gate?" Nora asked.

"We're doing the best we can ma'am! I need you all to step onto the platform so we can send you down into the vault." Their feet touched the platform just as a nuke hit. "SEND THEM DOWN NOW!" The same soldier screamed as the hurricane force nuclear wind came hurtling toward the hill. It passed over head just as the metal doors sealed them off from the world above.

Addison stood with her head bowed, fists clenched, eyes wide, and trembling as the platform came to a grinding halt. "All those people..." She heard someone to her right say as they were ushered up metal stairs to get checked in. She felt her stomach churn and she threw herself against the railing, grasping the cold steel bars as she bent over it and emptied her gut onto the cold cement of the vault. Nate was there rubbing Addison's back as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"All those people, Nathan. They all died because...oh my god...all those soldiers. What the f-"

"I know Addy...I know." Guiding her back towards where his wife and son were waiting for them. He wrapped his arms around all of them in an effort to comfort them as well as himself. "It'll all be okay. Come on, let's get this over with." They were checked in and getting their vault-suits on and stepping into their decontamination pods soon after.

Addison looked diagonally across from her at Nora and Shaun. She watched as Nora waved nervously to her husband before she closed her eyes and laid her head back for a second to collect herself. Addison's teal eyes snapped open when she realized how cold it had gotten all of a sudden. Looking around the pod she looked for a release of some kind, anything that would let her out of the damned thing. There was nothing, and with each passing moment her eyelids grew heavier and heavier until sleep took her.

* * *

 

Addison gasped for air as the pod released her. Strong arms caught her as she flung herself towards the open air. A male voice tried to sooth her as she drew in ragged breath after raggedly panicked breath. "Addy! Calm down, I need you to breathe..." Addison's eyes snapped to her brother's face, the world finally coming into focus.

"Nathan?" He nodded giving her a tearful, half-hearted smile. Her brow crinkled. "Nate, what's wrong?" Fresh tears began to flow down and over his stubble covered cheeks. Drawing his baby sister in close and burying his face in her shoulder, Nate cried. Patting his shoulder, Addison's confusion began to build until she looked at the gory mess behind him. "Oh my god..."

"I couldn't stop it Addy. I couldn't get out to save them..."

"Them?" Addison's eyes refocused on Nora's open pod. Traveling over her sister-in-law's vacant face and limp body, another panic attack began when she finally realized what was missing. Shoving her brother back to arm's length. She gripped his arms. "Where's Shaun?" Nate's tears began anew, this time with more vigor. "Nate! Where is my nephew?"

"They took him..." He managed to choke out.

"Who? Who is they?!" Nathan shook his head.

"I don't know, but they took my son, and shot Nora... Addy...What am I supposed to do without them?" Switching into soldier mode, Addison's face became a mask void of emotion. Only allowing rational thought and logic to enter her brain. She'd had to learn how to do this early, otherwise she would have gone mad long ago. Standing, the raven haired woman hauled her nearly immobile brother to his feet. Grabbing his face, she forced their teal eyes to meet. "I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to help me get the fuck out of this vault, you're going to stay strong for Nora and Shaun, and you're going to help me find the sons of bitch's who took him and killed your wife." Sniffling, Nate wiped his eyes and nodded.

"Alright. Let's get our asses out of here."

Thankfully Addison didn't have to carry Nate out of the vault. He managed to hold it together enough to at least walk on his own. The grief of losing his wife and his son had broken him. Unable to push it away longer than a few seconds, all the training he'd done in the Army had basically been thrown out the window and could barely function at all.  _'Thank God there were only giant bugs to contend with and not something worse.'_  Addison thought to herself.

Finally exiting into the room where the families had initially checked in, Addison did a small sweep with the 10mm she'd found in the Overseer's office. Nothing but more cockroaches and more skeletons. Dispatching the large insects, they walked over to the platform where one of the scientists lay. A small smirk played on Addison's lips when her eyes fell on the Pip-boy, wrapped around the wrist bones of the once live person. She picked it up and strapped it to her own flesh covered wrist and switched it on.

The whole thing was covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. Addison used her thumb to wipe away what was on the screen as Nate came to stand beside her holding a box of 10mm rounds he'd found. He handed her the box and nodded to the mobile computer. "That thing still work?" Addison nodded her head in thanks as she took the box of bullets.

"Yep, and she's our ticket out of this tin can." Addison patted around her body looking for a place to put the ammo. Giving up she settled for keeping a hold of them as she prepared to open the enormous vault door. "You know; jump suits really are very inconvenient. They don't even have any damn pockets, and I'm not about to shove the box down between my boobs." Despite himself, Nate chuckled at his baby sister, and tugged on her hair affectionately as she punched the button. The florescent lights above them went off and the lights above the door flashed bright orange as the computer told them to stand back.

The vault door screamed in protest as the large drill like mechanism pulled it from its spot in the metal wall. The flood light blinded them once the steel had been moved aside, and Addison practically sprinted towards the descending platform. Her breathing began to quicken again and she grabbed for her brother's hand, clasping onto it as though she were about to fall through the floor. Nate looked at the woman he'd grown up with and looked after his whole life and gave her hand a gentle squeeze when the metal cage opened and waited for the siblings to step beyond it.

"What do you think it's like up there now? Think there's still too much radiation?" Addison asked as they began their ascent to the surface. Nate stared at the approaching ceiling door.

"I don't know Addy. I don't even know how long we were actually down there for." Addison nodded and trained her eyes above her, shielding them as the door to the surface began to open and bright light poured through and bathed them in crisp New England air.

 


	2. Soldiering On

Addison never truly realized just how cold she was until the sun light caressed her skin. Shielding their eyes, the siblings stepped off of the metal platform. A gasp that sounded half way between awe and devastation fell from Addison's lips. The once lush green land, now lay dead and barren before them. Not a single hint of healthy earth could be seen from their vantage point. Turning abruptly away from the view atop the hill. Addison began the descent back through the now rusted chain link fence, her pace brisk.

The bodies of neighbors who were unlucky enough to either not have made it to the vault in time or just didn't sign up at all, lay on either side of the path. Their skeletons still covered with the tattered clothes they'd been wearing the day the bombs fell. Addison's eyes glinted with unshed tears for the fallen; trying her best to keep her mask in place for Nate, if for no one else. Nate hadn't said a single word since they opened vault 111. His head was hung low; eyes void of all emotion whilst trudging along behind her. He didn't seem to be able to see the horror right before him. Part of Addison was grateful for that, but the other part wished he'd snap out of it and experience this with her.

Addison broke into a sprint when the bridge, that spanned the small brook that divided Sanctuary from the vault area, came into view. Nate was shaken from the void his mind had jumped into, the abrupt movement starling him. He took off after his sister, nearly barreling her over when she skidded to a stop on the crumbling sidewalk. "What the  _hell_ , Addy?!" Nate exclaimed, throwing his hands above his head in exasperation. Addison ignored him, her eyes darting all around the once immaculate neighborhood.

A humming noise soon drifted over to them, causing the two to turn their heads towards Nate's old house. Nate's jaw nearly fell from his face when he saw Codsworth hovering over some very dead bushes, trimming them. A relieved grin spread across Addison's face and she jogged up to the Mr. Handy bot. "As I live and breathe! It's…it's  _really_  you!" A sense of relief rolled off Codsworth in waves.

"Codsworth!" Nate gasped in disbelief. "What happened…to the world?" Codsworth paused as though confused.

"The world sir? Well, besides our geraniums still being the envy of Sanctuary Hills, I'm afraid things have been dreadfully dull around here. Things will be so much more exciting with Addison, you and the missus back!" The Mr. Handy robot swiveled his eyes to look beyond the two standing before him. "Where is your better half by the by?" Nate hung his head, his teal eyes running rivers down his cheeks.

"She's in a better place, Codsworth." Addison spoke, her mask finally falling off completely. Anguish and despair etched into her pale skin. Codsworth looked back and forth between Nate and Addison still not comprehending.

"Mum…these things you're saying. These…terrible things, I believe you both need a distraction. Yes! A distraction, to calm this dire mood. It's been ages since we had a proper family activity, especially where Miss Addison was also present. Checkers. Or perhaps charades!" Codsworth chuckled as the brother and sister looked at each other, now concerned for the Mr. Handy's mental state. "Shaun does so love that game. Is the lad…with either of you?" It was then that Nate had to walk away from the conversation, which only served to confuse Codsworth even more. The metal balls that served as eyes focused on the younger female awaiting a response.

"Codsworth...Shaun's been…kidnapped." The words felt like a ton of bricks collapsing on top of her head. More tears fell as she sniffed and looked away towards the dilapidated house. A new feeling of determination roused from within. Addison's brow creased as she stared back at the robot. "But were gonna find him. We're going to find Shaun and get him back."

"It's worse than I thought. Mmhmm. You're both suffering from hunger induced paranoia. Not eating properly for 200 years will do that I'm afraid." Addison stood agape, eyes bulging from their sockets.

"200 years?!"

"A little over 210 I'm afraid. Give or take a little for the Earth's rotation and some minor dings to the ole' chronometer." Codsworth chuckled again. "That means you're both uh, two centuries late for dinner! You must be famished"

"I'm fine Codsworth." He shifted, seeming uncomfortable with her response.

"Are you sure, Miss Addison? I could whip you up something to ea-," Holding up her hand to stop him, Addison sighed heavily.

"I'm fine."

"Oh, well…alright then. What about sir?" Glancing off in the direction of her brother, she put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"I don't think Nate's quite ready to eat yet either, Codsy… "

* * *

 

Addison felt bad for Codsworth. After searching the neighborhood and dispatching some disgusting over-grown flies, he had confided in the young woman how he'd been all alone for the last two centuries or so. She'd given him a sympathetic look and patted his metal body, apologizing for all that he'd been through. He seemed relieved after having gotten it off his "chest". Codsworth had then presented to her, a holotape. Saying it was for Nate from Nora before the bombs came, sending them fleeing for the vault. Thanking him Addison walked over to her brother's spot on the rock wall by the river, plopping down next to him. "Here."

Nate looked over at the white and orange tape in his sister's hand. "What is it?" Addison continued to look out across the water. Having grown up next to the ocean up in Maine; the water always helped sooth her, whether she be upset, angry, annoyed…you name it. It was a place she could always go for solace to ease her ever racing mind.

"It's from Nora." Nate snatched it out of her hand, staring at it, and clutching it in a death grip. "I didn't listen to it. Didn't want to in case it was…icky," she joked scrunching her nose. Nate chuckled lowly. That had actually happened more than once.  _'More than I'm willing to admit.'_  You know that old saying; curiosity killed the cat. Well, in this case, Addison had always been and would always be the cat. Thankfully she'd learned her lesson, as far as personal holotapes for her brother from Nora went at least. Nate pulled the dark haired woman close and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, Addy." She smiled.

"You're welcome, big brother. If you want some privacy there's a computer in the yellow house just over there," she pointed with her thumb in the general direction of the building. "Some drug dealer was living there." Addison laughed, watching as Nate stood and brushed himself off. He thanked her again and trekked off toward the yellow house, still clutching the holotape to his chest.

* * *

 

Nate had stayed in the house with the computer, just listening to Nora and Shaun on an endless, torturous loop. He couldn't keep himself from pressing enter over and over again. At some point in the night he'd finally slumped over in the faded turquoise patio chair, and that's where Addison found him the very next morning. He looked peaceful, though the dark circles that had formed under his eyes would suggest nothing other than a fitful sleep. Sunlight poured into the room through the glass-less window, bathing it in an other-worldly glow. She hated to have to wake him. Addison gave him a gentle nudge. "Nate… Hey man, wake up." The dark haired man didn't even stir.

Giving a hefty sigh, she shook him a little harder. With each failed attempt to rouse her brother, the nudges turned into gentle shaking, which turned into chair kicking, and when that didn't work she had to practically drop kick the rusty chair to finally wake him up. Nate jolted awake with a slight scream. "What the  _fuck_  Addy?!" An annoyed and exhausted look set up shop on his normally smooth features.

"I'm sorry Nate, I tried the gentle approach and that didn't work. I had to resort to this. Now come on." She motioned for him to follow her out the door. When he didn't follow she turned back around. "Nathan. We need to leave today so we can go find Shaun." Nate gave a guilty uncaring shrug, and turned away in the chair.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Hey!" Addison ripped her brother out of the chair with a surprising amount of strength, grasped him by the shoulders firmly and glared at him. "Do you  _not_  want to find your kid?"

"What does it even  _matter_  Addy? We have no idea when he was taken. We were in that vault for 200 years." He tried to shrug out of his sister's grip, only to have her grip harder.

"You're damn right we don't know when he was taken. For all we know it could have been mere days after we were put on ice. It could have been a few decades later; hell it could have been fucking yesterday for all we know. The only way we're gonna know is if you get OFF your ass," she jabbed his chest on each word for emphasis. "And help me find him." Nate shrugged again, this time all Addison could see was red. Cocking her fist back, a mighty snarl exploded from her throat as she connected with the military man's jaw, sending him flying to the floor. Nate gripped his face in shock as blood poured down his chin from his busted bottom lip.

Addison stood rigged with fury, her whole body shook as she stared down her nose at her older brother; the man who had practically raised her and taught her to be strong no matter what. He was a shell of who he was and if she had anything to say about it, and boy did she, Addison would be damned before she let this behavior continue. "You know Nate, I get it. You had the most precious things in the world to you, taken. You may not think I get it but I do…" She paused, horrific memories playing behind her eyes. "I would think that instead of moping around felling sorry yourself, you would up my ass chomping at the bit to get out there and find Shaun. You know DAMN well that if Nora were here she'd have left last night and have been half way across the world if it meant she'd find him." Nate stared in stunned silence, but still didn't move. Taking this as a sign that he was still not going, Addison's lip curled. "You know what shithead? Fuck you! You wanna sit on your ass and sulk fine!" Stomping her way back down the hall of the house she roared, " _I'll_  go find  _your_  son!"

 


	3. Don't Holster That Gun

The Bridge leading to and from the relative safety that was the small cul-de-sac creaked and groaned in agonized protest while Addison’s booted feet stomped across in unconcealed fury. Grumbling under her breath incoherently, her hands balled tightly into shaking fists as she came to an abrupt halt next to the driveway of the Red Rocket station. Throwing her head back with an aggravated sigh, Addison placed her hands on her cocked hips, breathing deeply to calm herself. This once very familiar world was now an unknown entity. She knew she couldn’t just wander off in a huff, it would be her end surely. Addison needed every ounce of her training and every one of her senses on high alert.

Addison glanced in the direction of the abandoned building heavily debating on just walking into Concord, or stopping to see if there were any supplies inside that she could use to help herself survive. Adjusting the pack she’d made from ripped old clothing and duct tape she’d found the night before, while Nate was busy torturing himself, she turned fully towards the building finally making a decision. Surviving would have to be her number one priority because if she was dead that would leave her brother truly alone, and she didn’t think he would ever recover from that and then no one would find Shaun…ever. She descended the slight slope and was headed for the open garage when movement and noise finally caught her attention. Whipping her head in the direction she’d seen and heard it coming from Addison froze in place. A German Shepherd stood not 10 yards from her, she reached for the 10mm in her duct tape made holster strapped to her right thigh just as the dog walked over to her.

Watching for signs of it being sick with some weird radiation induced rabies or any kind of aggression, she waited. The dog stopped in front of her looking at her another moment as if he were judging whether or not to trust her. Another moment went by as the two stared at the each other when finally, the dog tilted his head and gave a playful bark going into a play-bow as he wagged his tail now gazing hopefully up at her. Bewildered, Addison bent down with a small smirk reaching a hand out for him to sniff. “Hey boy! You lose your owner buddy?” She patted his neck affectionately. “Well alright then, how about we stick together you and I? I could really use a friend out here to watch my back.” She stood smiling at the dog bouncing around in excitement. Addison laughed. “Well I guess I’ll take that as a yes.”

Another crunch sound made its way to her ears from behind her, acting quickly she spun, pistol in hand and raised to eye level. “Whoa! Jeez Sis I know I pissed ya off but you don’t need to shoot me or anything.” Nate joked with his hands held in the air showing his surrender. Addison rolled her eyes and holstered her weapon. Turning away from her brother she started back towards the garage again.

“I see you decided to join me in my efforts to find my nephew!” She called over her shoulder as she picked through tool boxes and drawers for anything useful. When he didn’t respond she glanced over her shoulder with a schooled expression of un-interest. Nate was standing next to the entrance of the garage bay suddenly finding the dirt beneath his vault boots fascinating.

“You were right Addy… I was acting selfishly. _I_ should have been the one who was up _your_ ass. Not the other way around.” He looked up at his baby sister meeting her gaze with his own sorrowful one. “I won’t make excuses, because there aren’t any that would even come close to validating what I said and how I acted…and I also don’t want to get cold cocked again.” He joked at the end of his small speech earning a small chuckle from the military woman. “The Marine’s teach you how to punch like a jackhammer?” He laughed rubbing the purple bruise that had formed on the left side of his chin as the mood lightened.

“They improved upon the basis of which my big brother taught me.” Addison smirked. “Best damn teacher I could’ve asked for.” She turned away to continue her search when she heard the dog growling outside. Furrowing her brow she jogged outside to see what he was doing when her eyes went wide. Her hand shot to her weapon, drawing it and training it on the disgusting creatures that now stood in the parking lot of the old station. Giant mole rats. ‘ _Well, I see that the rads haven’t done them any kindness in the beauty department.’_ She quipped in her head. Nate stood beside her as they waited for the first attack, when it came they open fired on the ugly things. The dog was holding his own against a couple as the rest were easily dispatched.

“If this is a precursor of what’s to come…this isn’t gonna be good.” Nate thought aloud. Addison looked at her brother with a worried yet sarcastic face.

“Ya think?”

* * *

 

After crossing the border to Concord and looting some of the easily accessible houses, gun shots rang out through the air alerting the three. Drawing weapons again they crept through the seemingly empty city with the dog at their heels. ‘ _Might as well just keep the damned gun out. Never mind putting it away._ ’ Thought Addison as she and Nate peeked around the corner of a brick building. At the end of the street stood the Museum of Freedom. On the balcony, from what they could see, stood a man with a laser musket shooting out at the people below who were firing back with a relentless intensity. Glancing at each other they began creeping forward again towards the shoot-out. As they approached the dog suddenly ran in front of them, blocking their path any closer when one of the men on the ground turned around and spotted them. Without one ounce of hesitation he raised his weapon and fired on them.

“Shit!” Nate yelled as he and his sister dove out of the way of the hail of bullets that showered the asphalt where they once stood. The dog followed Addison as she hid hunkered down behind a pile of sandbags. She patted his head and body to make sure he was okay before leaning out to see where their assailant was. Leaning back in she took a few sharp breaths to gear herself up looking back at the dog who also seemed like he was ready to go on the assault.

“Ready boy?” The dog gave a small bark of affirmation. Addison’s eyes met those of her brothers, who had taken cover behind a wall of the building across the street. They nodded to each other, springing into action. Addison launched herself over the barricade, while Nate and the dog charged forward. Bringing the handgun up and firing she winged the guy in the shoulder as the dog jumped him biting his arm and dragging him to the ground. Nate wasn’t far behind the German Shepherd, bringing his own weapon up and putting their assailant out of his misery.

A scream of immense pain ripped through Addison’s lips as a burning and ripping sensation scorched through her left bicep. Whipping around while grasping her arm, she ducked and rolled back behind the sandbags and more bullets whizzed past her head. Peeking around to see where her brother and the dog had gotten to, she immediately had to pull her head back in when more shots hit the sandbag near her head. While gritting her teeth Addison removed her blood covered hand to look at the wound in her arm. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was only a graze, granted a pretty deep graze, but nothing that would kill her. “Addy! You okay?” She heard Nate’s worried yell from the opposite side of the street. She nodded to herself before yelling back.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m good!” Addison gave herself a count of three before she popped up and squeezed the trigger. She caught two of them, one in the chest and the other dead in the middle of his forehead before dropping back behind cover as both crumpled to the ground in a heap of now vacant flesh. From the quick glance she’d done while dispatching the two before, by her count there were two more left. The silence was deafening. No one moved, no one seemed to even breathe. Each person waiting for someone to make a move. Nate peeked around the barrier of his own pile of sandbags to see where the shooters were. Spotting one who thought she was well hidden, and wasn’t, the dark haired man motioned to Addison to get her attention. Pointing at his own eyes with his index and middle finger, he then turned them towards where the female shooter was “hiding” to indicate he had spotted one. Addison nodded and pantomimed back that she would watch his back in case the other one popped up to shoot her brother.

Nate took a deep breath before launching himself out of cover to get a better shot at the female shooter. At the exact same time, Addison combat rolled to the side and out of her hiding spot just as the male assailant popped out of cover and trained his crudely built rifle on her brother. Two loud pops from the siblings 10mm pistols sounded across the city simultaneously before there was almost complete and utter silence. The only thing to be heard was their heavy breathing and the dogs panting as they stared at their now dead opponents. Addison straightened up and walked over to the nearest body and bent down to rifle through their pockets for anything they could use. Finding a couple stimpaks, she smirked and immediately injected herself at the sight of her bullet wound. Sighing in relief, as the wound began healing she holstered her side arm and picked up a side by side double barrel shot gun and some shells that had been sitting in their pockets.

Addison held out another shotgun to Nate but shrugged and let it drop back to the ground when he shook his head no. “Hey up here!” They both jumped, still on edge from their own little battle and whipped their heads around at the voice. In the all the chaos the two had forgotten about the man on the balcony of the old museum. “The raiders are almost through the door in here. You gotta help us, please!!” Addison gave her brother a look that said, _‘You can’t be serious.’_ “Really? There are more of these fuckers?” Nate nodded with a shrug.

“Guess so.” His teal eyes met hers as he turned his head to asses if she was alright. “What do you think, Addy? Do we help them? I mean it’s not like we know them or anything.” Raising an eyebrow to the almost callous tone in his voice Addison nodded.

“Of course we help them Nathan. We can’t just leave these poor people to die. Not when we know that there was something… _anything_ we could have done to prevent their deaths.” Adjusting her jumpsuit and pack she made for the door of the building where more shots could be heard just through the door. “Well?” She looked at him expectantly and motioned with her head for Nate to follow. Glancing down at her feet where another body lay, she noticed a laser musket like the one the guy on the balcony had. Addison picked it up along with the ammo that had been laying next to it and smirked. “Mount up sniper boy. The raiders are coming.”

 


	4. Power Armor, Mini-guns & Deathclaws Oh my!

Getting through the museum was relatively easy, the raiders where not the brightest bunch to say the absolute least. It had taken the two siblings about twenty minutes, give or take a few extra moments to sate Addison’s curiosity about the locked terminal in the basement. Now, they were on the top floor listening to two men pounding on the outside of the door that held the trapped people. Crouching, Addison signaled for Nate and the dog to stay low and quiet as they crept forward to the door leading to the walkway just on the other side. Addison and Nate pressed themselves into the crumbling wall behind them when the door swung inward and one of the raiders walked in carelessly. The other soon followed in after his companion, unaware their end was near.

Addison reached into the side pouch of her makeshift pack and pulled out the switch blade she’d found laying on an end table next to the top half of a human skull. Quickly creeping forward, the Marine lunged at the nearest man wrapping an arm around his neck in half a choke hold. Flipping the blade of the knife out quickly Addison jammed the blade deep into the carotid artery in his neck and twisted, widening the wound further. The scream of the dying man alerted his buddy, who spun on his heel to shoot her. Pulling the body of the raider she held in front of her further, Addison used him as a shield when the spray of lead headed her way. Her own gun shots rang out soon after, dropping the gun toting psycho on the other side of the once small office.

Addison breathed heavily and wiped her right hand off on the leg of her jumpsuit, smearing the blood-soaked appendage into the fabric. Turning back to her brother she motioned with a tilt of her head for him to follow her out onto the walkway. She gave a slight rap on the door to the main office and hollered through the door, “Hey, you guys alright in there? Those people who were trying to kill you are dead now!” There was a small pause before the door swung inward revealing the guy from the balcony outside. Seeing the siblings, he stepped aside to let them in before shutting the door tightly behind them. The man moved to stand in front of them once more, giving them a weary smile.

“Boy are we glad you two showed up,” he held out his hand shaking both of their own in greeting. “Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minuteman.” Nate and Addison’s eyebrows shot up and they gave each other a look.

“Minuteman? Now I think we’ve gone back in time.” Addison chuckled under her breath. Nate smirked at his sister’s comment directing his own to Preston.

“We were glad to help. You guys looked a little pinned down. Couldn’t just walk on by without lending a hand.”

“Or a gun.” Addison smiled and walked over to where the dog now lay. The old woman on the couch looked like she was ten kinds of crazy, but she seemed nice enough as she scratched the German Shepherd behind one of his ears. The old woman looked up at Addison’s approach and smiled in return.

“Well, look who Dogmeat brought to us,” she exclaimed in excitement causing Dogmeat to wag his tail uncontrollably. “You’re not what I expected, oh but so much better.” The old woman’s Massachusetts accent was heavy, and it made Addison smirk in amusement and was sort of glad even though the world had gone to absolute crap small things remained the same. She thought back to her home in Maine and wondered if the accent there had survived as well.

* * *

 

After getting the, what Addison would call, mission parameters the two siblings had come to a decision. A sort of game plan that would play to their strengths. Addison would take the mech suit, mid and short-ranged combat was a specialty of hers especially if there was power armor involved. On days when she and her unit were off-duty but still overseas, they held a fight night of sorts. Bare knuckled fights as well as power armor matches. The Marine sergeant had never lost a match, she had been damn good at what she did.

Nate had agreed to take up a sniper position on the balcony with Preston, since _that_ was _his_ specialty. Dogmeat whined and nudged Addison’s hand with his snout to get her attention. She smirked and knelt to hug and scratch his scruffy head. He was staying inside with the group of settlers, so he would be safe. “You be a good boy for me okay? You need to stay here and protect everyone just in case.” The German Shephard tilted his head, looking up at her with his big brown eyes. Those eyes could probably turn even the hardest heart to mush.

Addison turned to look at her brother and dragged him into a tight hug. Nate crushed his sister to him. “Be careful out there, please. I can’t lose you too Addy.” Addison pulled back to look at Nate giving him a bright smile that showed off her pearly white teeth.

“Aw come on brother. Have a little faith, it’s not like we were in some rag tag neighborhood watch playing at being vigilantes. We were military trained soldiers once upon a time.” Addison slapped Nate’s shoulder good humoredly and headed towards the door on the opposite side of the room.

* * *

 

Addison stayed crouched by the door that lead out to the suit of power armor, her back pressed against the crumbling inner wall. She didn’t know whether the door would just open onto a very visible roof or not. If it did she might end up having to boot up that old-world tank under fire. When she peaked beyond the threshold, Addison stood and walked out with sigh of relief. The Bird that had crashed into the building sat high enough to block the view of anyone looking out over to where to suit stood. Unfortunately, it also blocked her view of anyone who managed to slip outside during the onslaught of the siblings that had occurred not twenty minutes ago. Quickly making her way over to the rusted T-45 she slipped her pack off and fished the power core out, slamming it into place.

As soon as she had climbed in, that inevitable rush of adrenaline and excitement she always got every time she stepped into one of these suits washed over her. Her heart pumped wildly in her chest as the HUD come online in her helmet. Everything was green except for two of the limbs. _‘Nothing too bad. This should be a cake walk. Two highly trained vets against a handful of mouth-frothing dick bags? Yeah. Easy.’_ As if shaking the rust out of her joints, Addison shimmied her shoulders around like a panther readying itself to pounce on prey before walking up the ramp the vertibird had created and towards the mini-gun. “Alright, come here my love.” Addison whispered to the Bird mounted gun. Grasping hold of it, with one mighty pull, she’d managed to wrench the giant Gatling styled gun from its perch.

As soon as the mini-gun had settled into her steel covered hands, several bullets pinged of the pauldrons of the armor. Addison ducked back into the cover of the vertibird to survey where her attackers were coming from. The one on top of the building across the street was growing bolder, spending less time hiding behind cover and more time taking pot shots in her vague direction. The five below on the street were doing the same as the one on the roof, as well as closing in on the museum.

Addison smirked, and she started to back up towards the door that lead back into the building. She checked her HUD one more time as she bunched her leg muscles, and with the help of the machine around her took off at a dead sprint across the roof top. As soon as the edge of the building came into view Addison pushed her mech suit harder and launched herself, mini-gun and all, across the gap between the buildings. The raider’s acidic smirk of glee turned to pure terror as the thousand-pound suit of armor came crashing down, crushing her to death instantaneously. _‘One down.’_

The Marine planted herself firmly onto the roof top before flinging herself over the side of the building onto the street below. Addison barely registered the laser beams from the twin muskets on the balcony behind her as she landed, mini-gun in hand and at the ready. Some of the crazed men that had been barreling up the street mere moments ago, were now turning tail to run back, while others continued their assault. The barrels of the heavy gun glowed orange with the constant use and .38’s ricocheted off in other directions as Addison rained bullets on her opponents.

When the whirring stopped, and the street seemed empty. The sergeant took a single step forward while she reloaded her gun for the third time. A loud thunk against metal echoed through the barren bloody street and a deafening roar rang out as a creature she’d never seen before crawled out from under the road. Addison’s teal eyes widened as she tried not to breathe and took a step back from the demon, who seemed to have crawled out of the very pits of hell itself.

The movement drew the great beast’s attention and it clomped towards her. A ripple of terror scorched through her like she hadn’t felt since her first tour of duty, and she let the lead fly again. As quick as she could and without tripping over sand bags and potholes, Addison turned the barrels of the mini-gun orange once more. The 5mm’s seemed to only piss it off more as it’s clomping turned to agitated and purposeful stomps that only quickened with each step it took closer.

Without warning the lizard like demon sprinted for her using all four limbs to catch up to her faster than she could process what was happening. In her confusion, she felt the large machine gun being ripped from her grasp as she was sent flying through the air and through the already blown out window of the hardware store. Addison attempted to recover quickly, but before she could make a move to even try standing the beast pressed its enormous weight onto her chest. Talon’s biting into the steel plate covering her torso as it bent it’s face to her own.

She could smell its breath through the vents in her power armor helmet and almost vomited from the stench. It smelled like rotting flesh and the mutated lizard itself gave of a rather horrific odor alongside the smell coming from it razor teethed maw. Addison started to reach for the combat knife that sat in a small leg holster on the body of the dead raider that lay beside her when she heard it. Her heart seized when she heard Nate yelling and throwing things at the creature above her; she thought she’d gone into cardiac arrest when it not only turned from her, but also began to lumber away from her and towards her one and only brother.

It started to pick up pace and everything seemed to go in slow motion as Addison ripped the combat knife off the body and jumped to her feet. Nate had his musket raised in out right defiance of the creature about to bear down on him and Addy started running. It was less than six feet from her brother when she slammed into it with all her might and sent it flying to the ground. She followed shortly after, the sheer size and weight of it knocking her off balance. Stunned it roared up at her trying to regain the upper hand. Jumping on top of it, Addison with all the might she could muster smashed her fist into the creature’s face, the sound of an audible snap hitting her ears, and its jaw hung slightly askew as it cried out in agony. Addison punched it again before raising the serrated knife high above her head and slammed it down into its head giving it a twist and holding on as it thrashed in its death throws until once again the street lay quiet.

The only sound to be heard was the heavy breathing of the frightened siblings as they stared at the demon who lay in a heap at their feet.


End file.
